Wednesday, June 26, 2013

CAIR-FL:Delta Air Lines Refuses to Transport Body of Muslim Shot by FBI (Boston Globe)The airline's corporate policy states the airline will ship a body as long as a birth certificate can be produced, said Thania Diaz Clevenger, the group's civil rights director. But even when that document was produced, an airline representative informed CAIR that it would not ship the body, citing a similar decision made during the effort to bury Tsarnaev.

CAIR-MI: The F.B.I. Deemed Agents Faultless in 150 Shootings (NY Times)The Michigan chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations filed a lawsuit against the F.B.I. The group was concerned in part because the handgun had no recoverable fingerprints and because of facial injuries to Mr. Abdullah. It also contends that the dog may have been shot instead by the F.B.I. agents and the gun thrown down in a cover-up.

(WASHINGTON, D.C., 6/19/13) - The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), the nation's largest Muslim civil rights and advocacy organization, said today it is asking prosecutors to bring charges against a woman whose anti-Muslim rant and alleged assault targeting a Virginia Muslim taxi driver was caught on 911 recordings and on the cabbie's tablet computer.

This is the second time CAIR has sought hate crime charges for an assault on a Muslim cabbie in that state. In the most recent case, a woman shouting obscenities called 911 claiming she was afraid for her life because the taxi driver, Abdikar Aden, was "very Muslim." The driver reported to CAIR that the woman poked him repeatedly in the back during the incident.

Aden said the woman, identified in the police report as Jennifer Crabbe of Ashburn, Va., reportedly claimed that Muslims come to America and work as taxi drivers to save money so they can blow themselves up. He said that when the woman poked him and threatened to have him deported, he pulled over and called 911. Aden then began recording the incident on his tablet computer. The woman, who used the F-word more than a dozen times, was recorded saying, "I have some Muslim guy, which I am very scared, who is our taxi driver."

CAIR has asked Fairfax County Commonwealth Attorney Raymond Morrogh to prosecute the April 23 incident as a hate crime and thereby "send the message that bigoted acts of violence have no place in Fairfax County."

In his letter to Morrogh, CAIR Staff Attorney Gadeir Abbas also wrote:

"This is important, not only for the thousands of Muslims that live in Fairfax County, but to all residents who value and benefit from the vibrancy and strength diversity brings to the area. It is the expectation of both CAIR and Mr. Aden that Ms. Crabbe will be held accountable for her venomous and unlawful assault."

Last month, CAIR sought similar hate crime charges for an alleged assault on a Muslim U.S. Army reservist and Iraq veteran reportedly attacked by a passenger who compared him to those who carried out the Boston Marathon bombings and threatened to kill him. Prosecutors in Fairfax County are considering what charges to bring in that case and a hearing is scheduled for August.

CAIR is America's largest Muslim civil liberties and advocacy organization. Its mission is to enhance the understanding of Islam, encourage dialogue, protect civil liberties, empower American Muslims, and build coalitions that promote justice and mutual understanding.